Glimmer of Hope

Chapter 2: A Night to Remember

I slammed my shot glass onto the bar, shaking the whiskey bottle next to me. The burn from the whiskey lingered in my throat. Gob, the Ghoul bartender, looked at me while wiping the inside of a tankard. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough sir?” He asked with some concern in his deep scraggly voice. I looked over to him, my vision doubling the patches of flesh falling off of him. I mumbled something, probably something completely incoherent. Gob just sighed and looked back down at the tankard. Nova, the bars “escort” walked over to the bar and sat in the stool next to mine. She put her hand on my armored shoulder, looking at me with more concern than Gob. Her red-orange hair looked bedraggled, indicating she just got done with another customer. “Gob’s right sweetie, I think you need to get some rest. We wouldn't want the famous Vault Dweller looking like a drunken slob now would we?” I refilled my glass, and took another shot. I put my glass down and fell silent. I sighed, she was right. I’m considered a hero here, I didn't really have time to be depressed. I’m supposed to be setting an image for others out here in the Wasteland. I reached into my pouch of bottle caps and pulled out seventy five. I put them on the bar and slid them to Gob. He looked at the caps, then to me, then back to the caps. “ Umm… sir. The drinks were only 25.” I looked at him, as serious as my drunk ass could be.

 

“Just take ‘em Gob, you’ve gotta pay your debt to Moriarty somehow.” Nova assured him with her scratchy, thin Boston accent. I heard a shuffle in the back, probably Moriarty pissin’ his pants about the mentioning of that subject. I would speak, but the whiskey dried my mouth to the point where I couldn’t even open it. Gob smiled a crooked yellow smile. He took the required caps and put them in the register, putting the rest in his pockets. Nova fished into her pockets and pulled out a key and handed it to me. “Don’t worry about the pay, it’s on the house. You definitely need it.” I looked at the key and smiled at her. I put down the key and opened my canteen and drank some water I snagged from the Vault’s water supply. The water felt cool against my dry, burning throat and mouth. Finally having the ability to open my mouth, I did so and proceeded to thank Nova. “t-Thanks.” I croaked with a throat that was dryer than I thought. Nova, trying to hold back a chuckle, stood up and put a hand on me. God, if I wasn’t as intoxicated as I was now, I might’ve swapped her hand away, but I did nothing. She smiled at me, her gaze trailing down my body then back up to my face. “Looks like you're not gonna make it by yourself, let me.”

                                                     

After several attempts to get me up the stairs, which most ended up in me falling down them, we finally made it into the room. It was a small, humble room. There lay a queen-sized bed in the center of the room touching the back wall. A circular table sat next to the door with a chair next to it. An ashtray lay on the table. Two filing cabinets sat in the corner left to the bed, most likely empty. A ceiling fan spun shakily in the center of the room. I plopped onto the bed, its beige (which used to be white.) sheets flew up and around me. It’s massive oak wood frame shook a little, bumping into the scrap metal wall. I started to undo my shoulder pad’s straps, in which it fell off with a quiet click and clunked on the floor. Sleep was starting to creep up on me, but slowly. I wanted sleep, but didn’t at the same time. I looked up, seeing Nova locking the door.

 

I stared at her with a half tired/half confused face. She looked at me with a smile. “Gotta make it look like you paid.” she assured me. I sighed and sat up and unstrapped my weapons. I stood up and laid them on the circular table next to the door. I turned to only be encountered by Nova’s face only a couple inches from mine.(She was having to lean forward and stand on her toes, even in her 4 inch heels.) Her blue eyes were staring directly at mine...I think. I could feel my face flush through my drunk state of mind.(In which I was sobering up from.) She sat there for a moment, then turned away quickly, her face going red. I opened my mouth to speak, but I stopped myself. Nova broke the silence by handing me a small plastic case, which fit in my palm perfectly. I looked down at it, large black letters on the case from what I could read formed the word: Fixer. Nova, still looking everywhere else but at me, mumbled to me, “It’ll clean out your system, don’t want to wake up in a hangover right? Just mix it with some water.” I nodded and took it from her.